Archives for March 2017

More things came up during the headphone fishing/immersion session, now on the flagship end of things, authorized dealer Adorama is offering in “Used – Demo” condition the Sennheiser HDVD 800 Headphone Amplifier for $1374 plus shipping which starts around $18 (varies by zipcode). Probably a good idea to select 3-day or faster shipping, you don’t want a flagship amp languishing in slow-shipping hell 🙂

April Fool’s Day is upon us, which makes this big headphones sub-reddit thread all the more curious. According to the very serious sounding and acting thread over there, discussion of headphones with an MSRP of $200 or less is banned from the sub-reddit. The reasoning of that is to cut back on entry-level and newbie talk and focus more on “audiophile” products.

It’s already April 1st in some parts of the world and Reddit is a global website. On the other hand, this looks like a serious attempt, offending messages to “rule 10” are getting deleted, lists of ineligible headphones are being produced, and such.

What do you think? It looks like a 50-50 to me but either way, we will know for sure on April 2nd 🙂

The new condition closed-back AKG K-495NC on-ear headphones with active noise cancellation (USB chargeable) are going for $107~ by Woot through amazon.com and fulfilled by Amazon, so they are Prime eligible. Note however that a number of the reviews complain of fragile construction, so be sure to look into that before considering them.

On the utilitarian price-range of bluetooth, the red color scheme of the new condition Bluedio T2s closed-back on-ear headphones are on sale for $20 per pair at Amazon by Amazon actual. Free shipping for Prime members or with a $35+ order. You can buy as many as you like. This is not a lightning deal. The other three colors go for $25 to $30. All together they average 4 out of 5 based on nearly 4000 customer reviews. The price and the unusual design is probably helping with the sales. They run Bluetooth 4.1. They also play music via a 3.5mm cable.

And now an appetizer! The RCA 6-foot audio cable (PET20-7120) is currently on sale for $1.41 at Amazon by Amazon actual. Even though the price is low, it is currently NOT an add-on item, so if you are a Prime member, you get free 2-day shipping on it (or you can select slow shipping and get a $1 digital credit). Limit 27 cables per customer during this sale. This is not a lightning deal. It has only one three-word review so far.

So many Sennheisers, so little time! The new condition closed-back variable-bass over-ear Sennheiser HD 630VB is currently on sale for $355 with free shipping at Amazon by Amazon actual with a limit of up to three per customer. It averages 4.4 out of 5 based on 22 customer reviews. No 1-star reviews yet.

This surfaced while doing headphone-immersion at the Amazon website, the hardcover edition of the 2013 book “The Technology of Binaural Listening” (Modern Acoustics and Signal Processing) by Jens Blauert is going for $121~ with free shipping by Amazon actual. It is “temporarily out of stock” but if you like the price, buying it locks the price.

You can get a feel for the book by doing a “Look Inside” on the hardcover page (this allows you to jump all over the book), and you can also get a Kindle sample. The Kindle sample is always the first few pages of a book, so check both to get a better feel for it.

The SONY PHA-2 Headphone Amplifier is available in “Used – Good” condition for $300 by a marketplace seller with the order fulfilled by Amazon which adds a level of protection when buying from marketplace sellers. They have a detailed description of the condition along with two pictures over there. Per the shopping cart, they only have one unit available. As usual with offers like this, it depends on how much you want to take on…

For Prime members only, Amazon actual is offering the new condition of the LG V20, fully-unlocked for GSM carriers, but it is the T-Mobile version, in the Titan Grey color scheme. A marketplace seller has it for $500 for all, which is probably what triggered an automated price-match by Amazon actual.

On the same listing there are other colors that are international versions, so pay attention if you are traversing the various options. Likewise, all the posted reviews (as of the time of writing) are for the international versions. You have to filter reviews by color since they are all grouped together.

The LG G6 is not getting the quad-DAC in the US market, so it does not overshadow the V20 in that regard. The V20 has other music-playing benefits, removable battery, 64GB on-board storage, and microSD slot that can take cards up to 2TB (unicorns have 2TB cards!). It comes with Nougat out of the box.

The Pioneer XDP-100R is offered in open-box “Used – Like New” condition for $279~ with free shipping by Electronics Expo through Amazon Warehouse Deals in either the black color scheme or the silver color scheme. These ship directly from Electronics Expo. They also have a “fulfilled by Amazon” option that costs $20 more. Both come in original box with original accessories. The DAP averages 4 out of 5 based on 35 customer reviews.

I did another online shopping immersion and earmarked various items for further checking and posting. They will trickle here throughout the day as I find time to do so. We begin with…

The portable Sony PHA-1A DAC/amp is available in manufacturer-refurbished condition, in a brown box with a 30-day warranty for $150 with free shipping by Secondipity through Amazon Warehouse Deals. Per the shopping cart, they have one left:

The TFZ SERIES 5S In-Ears are offered for $65 at Massdrop where they now hide the shipping fee (boo!), but if you want to wait until late April 2017, you can get them very quickly (two days if you are a Prime member) for $70 with free shipping by SHENZHENAUDIO with the order fulfilled by Amazon.

PS: make sure you learn what the TFZ acronym stands for before you buy them 😉

Fully unlocked at members-only Massdrop is a variety of options on Comply Foam Earphone Tips for $14. Not sure what happened to the shipping and handling fee, it is no longer shown next to the product prices. You have options at checkout from the 100, 200, 400 and 500 series and in various T-options. They will ship late April 2017. They point to this color-coded monster PDF file for compatibility with various IEMs.

IF you are looking for open-back lightweight old-school on-ear headphones, the new condition Sennheiser PX 100-II On-Ears are currently going for $50 with free expedited shipping at B&H Photo, one of the few retailers that still carries them.

As of a late 4/3/17 re-check, this sold out and is no longer available (used quantities are typically very limited, often times it might be just once unit)…

To the IEMs we go, with a color that may please Melisandre, the Shure SE535 Limited edition in the red color scheme are available in “Used – Demo condition” for $369 plus shipping (around $10, varies by zipcode) by Adorama.com.

Massdrop and Sennheiser are so besties these days, they now have a Sennheiser CX-series earphones grab bag for $26. For that price, you randomly receive one of three options: either the CX 1.00 (most people get this) or the CX 2.00 (either Android or iOS buttons) or the CX 5.00 (either Android or iOS buttons). You can buy up to two random grab bags per customer. Since this is random, you can pre-select your OS of choice, so factor that in your decision whether to buy this grab bag or not.

Offer ends in about seven days from blog-posting date. The purchases will ship early May 2017.

This coupon expired but it is a recurring promotion, I think once a month or something like that…

If you feel like deal-fishing, coupon code MARCH20 gets you 20% off at All 4 Cellular (A4C) until the end of the month. This is a search for headphones but you can search for other things or navigate the sub-categories.

Most items are eligible for the coupon, but not all (eg, daily deals are excluded).

This sale ended [the headphone price went up] but it is recurring every few weeks… The $10 rebate continues as planned, but with the headphone price increasing, $10 off is not much help…

The prices keep dropping over time on this. Now the closed-back Ultrasone PRO550 Foldable headphones are on sale for $70 with free shipping at Adorama.com after a $10 mail-in rebate on them (see PDF file) good until 4/5/17. Or if you don’t want to deal with a $10 rebate, then it’s $80.

Pardon the interruption, but after a 1.5 week delay [all apologies for the delay!], our “weekly” round-up of things happening in the world of headphones is back with a new edition. Did the new V-Moda Wireless II reveal how much Qualcomm charges for their apt-X technology? A new Stereophile Components Guide is out, reviews and opinions aplenty, and more!

Part of the 3M Peltor hearing protection line (that’s their priority), the 3M Peltor EARbuds are currently on sale for $27.40 at Amazon by Amazon actual. They are also available as a “Subscribe and Save” for heavy users of these. They have a triple flange design. They average 3 out of 5 based on 210+ customer reviews.

As of a 3/31/17 late re-check, this is no longer available from this seller at this price…

The open-back over-ear Focal Elear go for $1000 in new condition at authorized dealers, but if you are comfortable buying them used, they are available in “Used – Like New” condition for $829 with free shipping by marketplace seller “Audio Fanatic” (100%, 81 ratings) through Amazon Warehouse Deals. They are not Prime eligible.

If you are a fan of the T-series of Beyerdynamic headphones, the new condition closed-back on-ear Beyerdynamic T51i is offered for $200 with free shipping at Amazon by Amazon actual. Limit up to three per customer. This is not a lightning deal, it’s either a sale or a price-match. The headphone averages 4 out of 5 based on 110 customer reviews and has 20+ questions peer-answered.

AUKEY is like a Chinese competitor/clone to the Anker brand of smartphone and other tech accessories. One of the obligatory product categories serving the smartphone market are bluetooth earphones, and for a limited time, coupon code PXVRO74H drops the price of the AUKEY Loops Bluetooth Earphones from $16 to $8 (it is a 50% off coupon). This is sold by AUKEY with the order fulfilled by Amazon, so if you are a Prime member, you get free 2-day shipping. They are not an Add-ON item (shhh! don’t tell Amazon!).